Is a River Alive?

Analyze Macfarlane’s use of metaphor and personification when describing rivers. How does his language evolve from scientific description to mystical encounter, and what does this suggest about the limits of conventional nature writing?

Examine the structure of the book, particularly how Macfarlane weaves together personal narrative, environmental science, Indigenous history, and legal analysis. How does this multi-layered approach serve his larger argument?

How does Macfarlane use sensory details and embodied experience to convey each river’s agency? Analyze specific passages where physical sensation becomes a form of knowledge.